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Businesses that manufacture, distribute, or transport products qualifying as hazardous material (also known as "hazmat" or "dangerous goods") are challenged with new regulations and heightened government enforcement. HazmatLaw.com, a new online resource is designed to help businesses meet this challenge. The site provides an overview of basic regulatory topics, advanced compliance issues, and is updated daily with regulatory developments and news stories.

(PRWEB)October 6, 2004

Shipping hazardous materials is a risky, but necessary activity for many businesses. The hazmat regulations are complex and the costs of mistakes are substantial. Our post-9/11 world makes this regulatory maze even more confusing and expensive; in the last year Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) hazmat enforcement investigations have increased 300 percent. Compounding the governmentÂs more aggressive enforcement posture is a wide-ranging increase in new hazmat shipping regulations. The variety of products that qualify as hazmat Â from chemicals and fuels to certain engines, pharmaceuticals and basic consumer commodities, like perfume, makes things even more complicated.

With the launch of HazmatLaw.com, an online guide to the U.S. hazardous materials transportation regulations, the business community now has a transparent and timely resource on this critical issue.

HazmatLaw.com provides a big-picture explanation of the U.S. hazmat regulations from the business personÂs perspective. Updated daily, the website includes headlines and links to hazmat news stories and a section devoted to regulatory developments. The website addresses all major regulatory responsibilities faced by businesses that ship hazmat items, from the basics on classification and packing group designation to advanced topics such as regulatory exemptions and government enforcement.

The government estimates that there are more than 800,000 hazmat shipments per day in the U.S. (more than 40,000 of which are via air). Increased cargo security screening conducted by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) now uncovers many more hazmat items that would previously have gone undetected. According to HazmatLaw.com publisher and Washington, D.C. attorney Adam Cramer Âmost hazmat mishaps are honest, avoidable mistakes.Â Cramer, who has represented domestic and international businesses in hazmat enforcement and counseling matters for many years, explains that Âslip-ups occur by highly sophisticated businesses as well as those that donÂt even realize that their packages qualify as hazmat.Â

Though many companies receive excellent training on the more technical aspects of hazmat shipment, there is frequently a disconnect between what is learned in the classroom and how to make safe and prudent hazmat shipping decisions in the context of running a business. HazmatLaw.com is a resource designed to give executive decision makers added context when deciding on packaging, shipping and distribution strategies, rethinking how to reduce regulatory compliance costs, and defining the nature of relationships with a companyÂs business partners.

HazmatLaw.com is published by the Cramer Law Group PLLC, a Washington, DC law firm specializing in hazardous materials transportation regulatory counseling and representation matters for domestic and international businesses.